


Le Journée S'Enflamme

by F1nch



Category: Carmen Sandiego (Cartoon 2019)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-22
Updated: 2019-12-22
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:54:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21893212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/F1nch/pseuds/F1nch
Summary: Those six hours were the longest of Player’s life.It was hard to process the passing of time, when the lights of the airport shone was blinding intensity, and the windows were few in number. He stared at the clock on his phone, watching as the numbers slowly flicked.A countdown to safety.After the arrest of Player's parents, Carmen and her team, along with Player, work to prove their innocence. But they soon realize that they aren't up against any simple police force. They're up against ACME.
Relationships: Player & Carmen Sandiego | Black Sheep
Comments: 10
Kudos: 255





	Le Journée S'Enflamme

The pen dropped to the floor, its point striking the concrete with a sharp  _ ping _ as it righted itself. It flashed blue for a second, before a hologram leapt from its end. The blue lines that made up the image flickered. The connection was weak. They were barely out of range of the EMP.

“Agent Zari, did we achieve our objective?”

The woman adjusted her glasses, shifting them back up on the bridge of her nose.

“We did, ma’am.”

“Good. Excellent work, agent.”

In the background, a thud sounded, followed by concerned chatter. Zari pinched the bridge of her nose as she turned, wondering what it was this time.

Agent Devineaux struggled to pick up a limp man from the sidewalk, who Zari presumed he had just dropped. Next to him, Agent Argent stood, continuously asking if he needed assistance, which he, continuously, refused. 

The night was a particularly quiet one, enough so that it was unsettling. The suburban Canadian neighborhood was devoid of vehicles, and was lit only by a few, sparsely placed streetlights. Every house looked the same, with white walls, peaked roofs, and finely mowed lawns. No vehicles roamed the streets, except for ACME’s own car, which was parked close to the curb. 

An unconscious woman was propped up in the back seat, her hands cuffed behind her back. Her seatbelt appeared to be the only thing keeping her upright. With how liberally the gas guns were used, it was somewhat unsettling just how powerful they were.

“Argh-  _ Putain _ !” Devineaux grumbled as he attempted to lift the man again. Zari could only hope that he wouldn’t give him a concussion. It was no use interrogating someone who couldn’t even think straight.

She turned back towards the hologram of Chief.

“They’ll figure it out.” Zari dead-panned. 

“Yes, they will. I’ll talk to you back at headquarters. Good work, Agent Z-”

“I apologize for the interruption, but there’s a slight problem.”  
“Other than your work partners?”

“Yes. Other than them.” She cleared her throat. “There’s a child.”

“A child?”

“Yes. Linda and Peter Pauley, they have a child. A fourteen year old son. Micheal Pauley.”

“Oh. Well, I will have Agent Baker make arrangements for him. Don’t concern yourself with it.”

“The child is not the problem, ma’am. The problem is that we can’t find him.”

* * *

Noisy, distorted audio blared from Player’s video call, resounding throughout the main room of Carmen Sandiego’s headquarters. The video transmitted onto the screen was more glitching than it was video, resembling a video taken from a phone if one’s finger was over the camera. Colorful pixels scattered around the edges.

“Player? Player, I think something’s wrong with your system. I’m not getting-” An explosion of noise from the laptop’s speaker made Carmen flinch. “Player! It’s not working! I’m getting static!” She had to practically scream to make herself heard over the noise.

The crackly image turned, now showing what could barely be made out as Player’s face. The noise was suddenly muffled, and the image shifted again, showing the floor again. The floor being viewed changed from black concrete to stark white tiles. A click, and the noise was unmuffled.

It was still quite loud, but not so deafeningly. The image showed Player’s face once more. He appeared to be in a bathroom, though not a very well kept one.

“Uh, sorry.” His voice crackled through. It was shaking.

“Wait, who’s dying?”

Carmen tensed at the voice, and whipped around, seeing Ivy and Zack gathered behind the couch. She was about to tell them off for sneaking up on her, but right now, she was more concerned about Player.

“No one is dying. Player, what’s happening?”

“Uh.” He gulped. “So, my parents were arrested.”

A blink of silence.

“Your parents were arrested?”

The boy nodded. Even in the video’s starkly low resolution, tear tracks clearly ran down his cheeks.

Carmen tried to take a deep breath, but couldn’t center herself enough. 

“Where are you now?”

“A nightclub.”

“A what?”

“It’s like a bar.” Zack explained.

“But with music. Super loud.” Ivy added. “Wait, how did you get into a nightclub? You’re like twelve.”

“Owned by some friends.. I helped them a while ago...with their systems…” He muttered.

“Okay.” Carmen breathed. Her leg tapped against the floor at a lightspeed rate. “What do you need right now?”

“Uh.” Another bang of sound. He shook. “A place to stay would be nice. I don’t think they’re going to be released anytime soon…”

“Get yourself a taxi to the airport. I’ll be there in six hours. Ivy, Zack, you stay on the phone with him. If anything happens, Shadowsan is in charge.” Carmen rattled off. 

The way she said all that, commanding the situation, taking a jumbled mess and finding a solution in record time, reminded her a bit of a certain someone.

She stood, and turned back to the laptop one last time.

“It’s going to be okay, Player.”

And, with that,  _ la femme rouge _ was gone, leaving nothing in her wake but a cold breeze as she opened the door.

* * *

_ I’ll be there in six hours. _

Those six hours were the longest of Player’s life.

It was hard to process the passing of time, when the lights of the airport shone was blinding intensity, and the windows were few in number. He stared at the clock on his phone, watching as the numbers slowly flicked. 

A countdown to safety.

He imagined dawn would’ve already broke by the time he spotted a flash of red in the passing crowd.

He was seated in a small pizza shop, at the time. He’d moved quite a few times, from establishment to establishment, hauling with him the only two possessions he retained:

His phone and the VILE harddrive.

Player wanted to run over to her. He wanted to hug her as tight as he could, and not let go. He wanted to feel safe. He wanted Carmen, at his side.

But Carmen kept a low profile. A child running up to her would be a lot of explaining to do, and right now, she appeared to be speaking to someone. A stranger. Presumably a chatty passenger from the plane. He heard phonemes of German, and wondered when Carmen had picked that up.

He looked back down at the comic book he was reading, rather absentmindedly. He flipped the page. In a panel portrayed in dark colors and stark white lining, a couple was backed up against a wall, surrounded, calling for the help of one superhero or another.

Why had he thought this would make him feel better, again?

He flipped past that page. It wasn’t like he was following the story anyways. He was just waiting.

A hand was placed on his shoulder. In the corner of his eye, he spotted red.

He couldn’t restrain himself any longer. He sprung from his seat, wrapping his arms around Carmen, holding her as tight as he dared. He assured himself that her broken ribs had set long ago. 

She hugged back, and, for quite a while, but not nearly long enough, they stayed that way. Master hacker and super theif. Friend and friend.

Carmen was the first to pull away. 

“You’re shorter than I thought.” She spoke with a smile on her face. Her eyes betrayed her fear, but she did not acknowledge it.

“You’re taller than I thought!” He replied. “And  _ hey _ . I’m still growing!”

“Alright, pipsqueak.” She said with a laugh.

Player couldn’t bring himself to laugh, right now. But he smiled, as much as he could manage.

“Return flight is in twenty minutes.” Though more serious, her tone was still warm. “Did you get any sleep?”

Player shook his head. “Couldn’t sleep.” Some of that bliss melted away.

Her gaze shifted to the table. “Too busy reading...What is this?” She looked to him for permission to pick it up, which he nodded at. She did so, looking at the title. “Commitment. Haven’t read that one.”

“It was just in the 24 hour store.” Player shrugged.

“Yeah.” Carmen smiled. “Well, maybe you can finish it on the return flight. Or sleep. You look like you need it.”

“No. Can’t sleep.”

“I understand.” Carmen’s warm smile turned to one of sympathy. “Zack and Ivy said they’re setting up a room for you, back at base.”

“I told them not to…”

“Well, once they’ve got an idea in their heads, there’s not much short of the end of the world that can stop them.” 

“You can say that again…”

“Yeah. Well, we better get you through security, okay?”

“Mhm.” He hesitated. He didn’t want to go through security. It was the worst part of airports. Too loud, too many people, too much pushing. 

“You want to hold my hand?”

That surprised him, but he answered honestly:

“Yeah.”

She gently took his hand in hers. He gripped it like a lifeline. 

And, like that, they were off, back towards San Francisco. Back to normal, for Carmen, and to a new life, for Player.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!  
> Inspired by a plot bunny. I'm hoping to turn this into a longer fic, but I don't have any concrete plans right now.


End file.
